Control means for throttle valves and the like



Sept. 11, 1928. 1,684,033

L. c. JOSEPHS. JR

CONTROL MEANS FOR THROTTLE VALVES AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 25, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 EM? ELQE Sept. 11, 1928. 1,684,033

L. C. JOSEPHS. JR

CONTROL MEANS FOR THROTTLE VALVES AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 25, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept... 11, 1928. 1,684,033

L. C. JOSEPHS. JR.

CONTROL mmns FOR THROTTLE VALVES AND THE- LIKE Filed Feb. 25., 1925 s Sheets-Sheet s c m w w W W w [1:3 55% in EE] E5 R Q N N n w a IN$ENTO J Patented Sept. 11, 1928.

' UNITED STATES LYMAN c. JOSEPHS, .13., or ALLEN'IOWN,

PATENT OFFICE.

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNA- TIONAL MOTOR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., .A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

CONTROL MEANS FOR THROTTLE VALVES AND THE LIKE.

Application filed February 25, 1925. Serial No. 11,617.

Means for operating the throttle valve of an internal combustion engine by other than direct connected linkage to a manually oper-.

able lever, have received some consideration.

For certainty of operation, nicety of adjustment and complete facility of control power means, if satisfactory, are preferable to manual means, particularly under some circumstances. In the control of motors for rail cars, for instance, it is believed that power means are virtually necessary to control the enginespeeds in a way which will be fully satlsfactory." Such power means might assume different forms, that illustrated herein being electroepneumatic. Such means are characterized by extreme simplicity of construction and arrangement of parts, compactness, certainty of operation, and nicety of control. In the design shown in the drawings,

for instance, it has been found possible to provide for eight gradations of s eed, that is eight settings for the throttle va ve with the "use of only three electro-magnets each of which magnets has only a single lead wire and a ground.

As the description proceeds, however, it will be evident to one skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the particular form or arrangement of parts nor the wiring or the magnets. In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of an improved electro-pneumatic control showing its mounting in operative relation to the throttle valve of an internal combustion englne.

Figure 2 is a View in end elevation thereof. Figure '3 is a View on an enlarged scale partly in section and partly in elevation through the air cylinder and taken on the plane indicated by the line 33 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a view in horizontal section through the same controlling devices taken on the plane indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a schematic projection of a suitable controller drum by which eight speed gradations may be accomplished. Without in any way intending to limit the invention to. the particular location of the devices with reference to the controlled element and the support for it the drawings show a construction which might be suitable,

.forinstance, in a rail car which is propelled by an internal combustion engine. As shown in Figures 1 and 2 the motor casing 11/ may carry a suitable bracket 6 to which is bolted a self-contained power controlling means for the throttle valve lever c by which the flow of mixture is controlled. As indicated in Figure 3 bolts 01 may pass through the bracket 12 and the walls 6 ofthe air cylinder. to afford substantial support for both the air cylinder and the electro-magnets f, g and h, by which the movement of the various air valves is initiated as will appear hereinafter. Bolts 9, f and h serve to secure the frames of the electro-magnets to the walls 6 of the air cyl inder. It will be seen from Figure t that the electro-magnets f, g, may be mounted conveniently at one side of the air cylinder while the third electro-magnet 5. maybe mounted at the opposite side and staggered with respect to the two first named electro-magnets. The entire arrangement of parts is simple and compact and the units may be readily assembled and disassembled either as a whole,

through removing the bolts d or in part, as I the provision of means operated pneumatically for moving the controlled element (which in the illustrated embodiment. is the lever arm"0 of the throttle valve) from zero position to a plurality of other positions so as to give gradations of speed and'to hold the throttle valve in any one of such other positions with an extreme nicety of control. In the preferred embodiment it is proposed, in addition, to control the air valve by electrical means so that the operator may, through a suitable controller, initiate operation of any one or more of the air valves to bring about selectively the desired positioning of the throttle valve.

As shown in Figures 1 and 4 the lever arm 0 of the throttle valve is connected pivotally through a slot 2' to a push rod is which extends through a threaded head 6 within the end ofa cylinder sleeve 6 and is normally maintained in retracted position by aspiral spring Z within the cylinder sleeve. This osition may be referred to as the zero position of the throttle valve at which'the engine speed is the lowest. Pneumatic means are provided to move the push rod 70 against the action of the spring 1 towards the left as viewed in Figure 4 thereby swinging the throttle lever c to positions in which the speed of the motor will be increased. Such means in one embodiment consist essentially of a plurality of movable piston; sections within the cylinder air port e through which air may be admitted 1 the sections 0, p.

- o and the piston section to move the said piston section m towards the left against the action of the spring I. The piston mis'of annular form and carries a pin m which extends through a slot n in an abutment n which is shouldered to limit the movement of the piston m towards the right. This abutment n is permanently fixed within the cylinder head 6. The slot 'n'determines the length of travel ofthe piston section m towards the left and the slot is madeintentionally of predetermined length depending upon the range of travel desired for the throttle lever 0 under impetus of the piston section m.

Beyond this piston section m are provided two opposed piston sections 0 and ;0 whose ends normally abut under the influence of the spring Z. The piston section 0 has a packing p has a packing 1) both engaging the walls of the cylinder sleeve-e Thesetwo sections, in addition, carry pins 0 p which extend through a slot 9 1n a link 9', the length-of-the slot determlning the range of movement of the pistons 0, p, with respect to one another when air is Introduced therebetween through a port e. Relative movement between the piston'sectlon m and the piston'section o is prevented by a spacing ring 1'.

Another pair of piston sections 8, t, are disposed wlthin the cylinder sleeve e beyond These sections have'pack lngs s, t", and carry pins .9 t, respectively, and the pms extend through a slot u formed in a link u, the length of the slot determining the extent to which the piston sections may be separated when air is introduced therebetween through an air port 6 A spacing ring r floats between the piston section 10 and the plston section 8 and prevents relative move ment therebetween, The piston section t is inoperative engagement with the end k of the push rod is which is of annular form in the interest of compactness and proper relatlonship of parts. In practice, it may be desirable to move th controlled element by equal gradations and to accomplish this the slot 9 in the link 9 is of such length as to permit a total relative movement between the piston sections 0, p,-equal to twice the travel of the piston section m, as determined by the lengthof the slot n. Similarly, the slot at in the link to is of such length as to permit separation of the pistonsections 8, t, by a distance equal to four times 'the piston travel of the section m. The relationship of parts is such that the spring I maintains all of the elements in abutment so that when air is admitted through the port .6 for instance, the pistonsection m is propelled towards the left and its movement is transmitted through the ring 1', piston sections 0, 1), ring 1", and the piston sections 8, t, to the push rod is. When air is admitted through the port 6 between the pismbn sections 0, p, the section 0 is backed u y the ring 1' and the piston section m and a utment m so that it cannot move while theother sectionp is propelled towards the left and its movement is transmitted through the ring 3 r andthe piston sections s, t, to the push rod 70. Similarly, when air is admitted through the port 6 the piston section 8 is held against movement since it is backed up by the ring 1",piston sections 0, p, ring 1-, piston section m and abutment m, the section t being free to move away from the section 8 and transmit its motion directly to the push rod is. By ad mitting air through any two of the ports simultaneously or through all three of them simultaneously the total distance througli' which the push rod k is moved will beequal to the additive amount of movement of the pistons selected.

Means for controlling the'flow of air into the cylinder consists in electro-magnets each having armatures carrying air valves controlling the admission of air through the respective ports 0 e and e", and the exhaust ofeair therefrom. Figure 3, shows a suitable arrangement of air channels and control therefor with respect to the electro-magnet h by which the admission and exhaust of air normally held on its seat by a spring '0'. The

chamber 6 communicates, under the control of the valve v with an inlet channel e which.

terminates in the port 6 When the valve 41 is seated obviously the air supply is cut off from the port e but air within the cylinder through theport e is controlled. Air enters I sleeve e may exhaust therethrough past a valve '0 which is carried on the same stem wlth the valve '11. ,The exhaust port which may lead to the atmosphere is indicated atv '0 The valves o, v, are in turn carried on a stem 'w supported by an armature 'w' of the electro-magnet it. When the electro-magnet It 1s energized the throttle will be held positlvely in the position predetermined by the 41:5

the influence of the air supply back of this piston section. When the electro-magnet h is de-energized the spring rv' will cause the valve '0 to seat and simultaneously cause the valve v to move from its'seat so that air may be exhausted through the port 6 and the piston section I moved into abutment with the other section ounder the influence of the spring Z. The other magnets f and g are similarly associated with air val'vesto control the admission and exhaust of air through the respective ports e 6 A further descr1ption of them is unnecessary. Electrical connections for the magnet 71, may include a ground wire such as h and'a lead wire it which may be connected with the contacts of a suitable controller, the projection of which is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 5.. The contacts for the electro-magnet h are indicated by the reference characters It, the contact for the electro-magnet g is indicated at 9 and the contacts for the electro-magnet f are indicated at F. The controller is also grounded so that three lead wires serve to bring about the control of the respective electro-magnets. 1 A full appreciation of the gradations possible may be appreciated by reference to Figure 5. When all three magnets are grounded the controlled element may be assumed to be in zero position. The various positions taken by the controller in its movement to control the actuation of the different ports have been indicated at the left of Figure 5 where the numerals 0 to 7 indicate such positions. The numeral 0 represents the neutral or zero position. The first movement of the controller to position No. 1 energizesthe electro-magnet 7 by means of contact F. The next movement to position No. 2 energizes the electromagnet it alone by means of contact k. The next movement to position No. 3 energizes ithe electro-magnet f and the electro-magnet hby means'of the contacts 7' and h. The next movement to position No. 4- energizes the to position No. 7 energizes all three of the electro-ma net (1 alone by me ansof the contact 9 T e fifth movement to position No. 5 energizes the electro-magnets f and g by means of the-contacts f and g. The sixth movement to position No. 6 energizes the electro-magnets h andg by means of the contacts k and g and the seventh movement electro-magnets by means of the contacts F, k and 9 If the plston movements, as suggested, are designed to bear the relation of 1, 2 and 3, 1t w1ll be understood that the con troller selection given brings about seven' vequal gradations above zero in arithmetical progression correspondlng to the movements of the controller just described and the throt tle valve is held in any one of these seven posltlons by a simple operation of the con troller by- -the driver, the seven positions of ment. The successive positions of the con-.

trolled element are eight determined with mathematical exactness and do not admit of any variation.

It will be understood that changes in form and arrangement of parts may be made and that other elements than a throttle valve may be controlled.

What I claim is:

1. A pneumatic controlling device including an air cylinder, aplurality of movable piston sections each mounted slidably there-' in, a fixed'abutment at one endof the cylinder to limit the'movement of the piston sections in one direction, lost motion connections between the piston sections including hollow portionsfin each piston, pins mounted across the hollow portions and a link with slots to engage the pins, and means for moving the sections additlvely.

2. Electro-responsive pneumatic controh ling means including an air cylinder, five movable piston sections therein, the controlling ports of which are controlled by three separate means, controller means to actuate said 1neans in desired combinations, and

means whereby seven positions of said piston sections may be effected through operation of the controller. I

3. Electro-responsive controlling means including an air cylinder, five movable pis-- ton sections therein, a control port for one of said pistons, a control port for two other pistons, a control port for the other two pistons, means to control'the movement of said pistons in one direction, means to limit the movement of the pistons to predetermined degrees respectively, in the opposite direction, valves to control said control ports re spectively, and separate electro-responsive means to actuate said Valves respectively, and means to progressively energize said electro-responsive means to effect in predetermined manner the selection of said piston sections. 4:. Electro-responsive controllin means including an air cylinder, five mova le piston sections therein, a control port for one of said. pistons, a control port for two other pistons, a control port for the other two pistons, means to control the movement of said pistons in one direction, 'means to limit the movement of the pistons to predetermined degrees and means whereby seven positions of said respectively in the opposite direction, valves piston sections may be effected through operto control said control ports, respectively, ationgof the controller.

separate electro-responsive means, a control- This specification signed this 11th day of ler, said electro-responsivc means comprising February, A. D. 1925.

three electro-magnets.eachhaving a ground b v Wire and a lead wire to controller contacts LYMAN (l. JOSEPHS, JR. 

